The Eye of the Storm
by Nara Shikamaru
Summary: Years after the final shinobi war, after the Sound's forces have been defeated, an eerie peace settles across the majority of the land..
1. Prologue

After the final war of the shinobi across the land, Konoha had once again proven the most determined to survive. With armies led by the Hokage herself, along with the aid of Gama-Sennin, the Hidden Village of the Leaf and its allies vanquished once and for all the Sound, which had been created to fuel Orochimaru's mad ambitions. The Snake, although gravely wounded, had escaped and has been pursued by Anbu to this day, from every country. Little was known of his subordinates other than that several were taken in by other countries and became nin there.  
  
Years later, after the retirement of Tsunade, it was time for a new Hokage to be chosen. Of course, among the top choices were Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke, and even Sarutobi Konohamaru. Tsunade however knew the best choice, and she did indeed choose Naruto as her replacement. Besides Konohamaru, the other ninja didn't want to be Hokage that badly.  
  
Now, in Sunagakure, the Sand Village, a new Kazekage had taken stead there. Much like Naruto, after overcoming the challenges of the people there and harnessing the power that had been forced on him, Sabaku no Gaara was now the leader of his village. The alliance between Konoha and Sunagakure remain strong, for obvious reasons, and Konoha even gives financial aid to the village when it's dire to their survival.  
  
In Kaminari, the Cloud, a shinobi from both Naruto and Gaara's past had taken up the name of Raikage, as a challenge from Naruto. He too bore a burden, but it remained unknown to many what it was. He had fought discrimination and hate, but he had overcome it after a little nudge from the two youkai-possessed shinobi. Keitaro, who rode lightning like a bird flew through the air. Kaminari was on friendly relations with both villages as well.  
  
The other Hidden Villages remained on friendly ties, but none so strong as the three mentioned. The smaller nations would sometimes try to start war, but with no amazing shinobi and against a united power so great they were futile.  
  
It had also become a custom for the five greatest shadows of all the great villages to meet once every three months, and to also hold a festival in one of the countries each year, in order to maintain friendly ties. This year, when the meeting came around, the festival would be held in Konoha. With this in mind, the villagers were bustling about and preparing for this. It was indeed a joyous event, and everyone looked forward to it immensely, especially when it rolled around to Konoha.  
  
Now, a week until the big ceremony, a certain shadow flowed in from Wind country, to meet with a certain dancing flame...  
  
---  
  
A few notes about this...  
  
I don't really know where I plan on going with this.. I just felt inspired after reading through an RP a few friends of mine and I partook in. Keitaro will be explained later on, and even though I generally don't like youkai- characters aside from the official ones, Keitaro speaks to me. He's not -mine-, per se, but I'm sure my friend won't mind.. Also, I'm planning on going over the entire Keitaro bit after I finish this ( if I finish this ) but there'll be enough about him to satiate any curious minds in the flashbacks that are to come.  
  
About Konohamaru's name, I'm not sure just what his full name is. They called Sandaime 'Sarutobi', he looks similar to Asuma, whose name is Sarutobi Asuma, so I kind've put that together myself. It may be wrong, but it's a cool idea anyway.  
  
As with all of my stories so far, aside from a couple of one-shots, this will be subject to me forgetting or just dropping the idea. Oh well, sue me. 


	2. A Meeting

The front gates of Konoha had been opened an hour in advance, after the large parade had been seen marching their way. From the Sand came their contribution to the festival that was to be in a week, as well as their sole most powerful shinobi.  
  
After entering the gates, they immediately set about finding rooms for themselves and storing equipment and all other such business. More importantly, a smaller caravan led a certain white-clad ninja in the direction of the Hokage's office.  
  
Yawning to himself, Uzumaki Naruto looked up tiredly from a stack of paperwork. His eyes were shot, and he really didn't look like a happy camper. "Ma.. being Hokage shouldn't have so much PAPERWORK. Have to sign this for more weapon orders, have to sign that to keep an alliance strong.. NANI? Expand Ero-Sennin's home to the onsen? Haha, he'll never learn.." After crumpling that particular piece of paper up and tossing it to the trash, he groaned and fell back in a sea of papers, without noticing the messenger who had just come in.  
  
"Ooi, Hokage-sama. Kazekage-sama is here." Hagane Kotetsu, one of the now older shinobi of the village, still made a -fine- assistent, just as he had done to Sarutobi-jiji and Tsunade-baba.  
  
"He's on his way in as we speak."  
  
This caught Naruto's attention, causing the young leader's mood to change entirely. He quickly swept all the papers off into a box and stuffed them away, then reached behind his desk and pulled up the hat that read 'fire' and donned it. After all, the Hokage must look like the Hokage, especially when another leader was here.  
  
Moments later, Gaara himself stepped into the room, his own subordinates stopping at the door. Gaara waved them off, and after stealing a glance at Kotetsu that made the man leave hurriedly, made his way in and sat across from Naruto.  
  
Naruto tried his hardest to keep a straight face and look as majestic as possible, especially with the crystal ball before him, but he couldn't handle it for very long. Pretty soon, he was all grins and he asked Gaara how he had been these past few months.  
  
"Saa, Naruto-kun. Sunagakure greatly appreciates the aid, especially with the funds our country has been giving us. As for myself.. I've been better." His eyes narrowed slightly, and he leaned in a bit, despite the fact that noone else was in to hear the conversation. "Shukaku's been getting restless, which is why we're here early.. If anyone can subdue him, it's you, and I don't want to destroy the village."  
  
Naruto's face grew blank for a moment, then turned strangely serious, which was odd on the grown shinobi's usually cheery face. "So you'd rather endanger MY precious people with your burden, eh?!"  
  
Gaara's face, although usually impassive, took on a somewhat guilty look which was crushed by the huge grin of Naruto.  
  
"MAA, no need to be so glum, I'll keep him at bay! Anou sa, I was only playing!" Grinning wildly, the whiskered one leaned back in his chair to get more comfortable. "Ahh.. paper work killing you too?" After Gaara nodded, Naruto continued on. "Yeah.. I never imagined being Hokage would be like this, but I've gotten over it for the most part! And let me tell you, it's been boring here.. I can't spar with anyone! Not because I'm Hokage, but because all the powerful nin are out on missions constantly. Neji's an Anbu captain and his team leaves and finishes before all of them. Lee's got his own team now, and Shino and Kiba are both patrolling the border. I can't spar Tsunade-baba or Ero-Sennin either, they're way too old and refuse to fight." Naruto sighed, his brow furrowing, before taking a deep breath.  
  
"Even Sasuke's gone with special leave to track down Orochimaru and find out what connections he had to the Akatsuki. He's stuck on finding his brother, and he's convinced Orochimaru can get him there... Maa, he's become really obsessed with that since we brought him back, and especially since the war's been over."  
  
Gaara blinked, then looked at Naruto questioningly. "Are you sure that's a good idea? He's still got that curse seal.. and Orochimaru, if he's out there, probably needs a new body, and Sasuke -was- his first choice.."  
  
"Iie, Kazekage-dono, you worry too much. Even if Orochimaru's found a new host, which he likely has, Sasuke's strong enough now. He has a small squad of our best Anbu with him besides, and I doubt he'd let that bastard take his body. He's learned other ways to become powerful, and he's set on revenge his own way now!" Naruto nodded to himself, to reassure Gaara, but he himself was entirely sure of what he'd just said.  
  
"Anou, what about you? Any fights recently? And how're your siblings?"  
  
"Saa. I haven't had an actual fight in a while. An assassination attempt here and there, same as always, but now it's to become Kazekage and not to get rid of their old demons.." Gaara's face twisted into a melancholy grin, something rather unbecoming of the vessel. "Anyway, Temari teaches at the academy now, but she goes on missions whenever she can. She's been a Jounin for a few years now. Kankurou leads our foreign Anbu squads. He loves to go into other countries and snoop around..."  
  
"That's good, that's good! Glad to hear things are going so well in Sunagakure." Naruto stood up, patting down a wrinkle in his left sleeve. He turned around, and much like Sandaime-sama, folded his arms behind the crook of his back. "Say, have you heard from Raikage-dono? I'm kind of worried something's up.."  
  
Gaara, once again, looked questioningly to Naruto despite the man's turned back. He stood up, so that he could glance at Naruto. Even now, Gaara didn't have his gourd with him, at least not in open sight. "I've not heard from Keitaro since the celebration in Kaminari three months ago. What's going on, Naruto-kun?"  
  
Naruto sighed inwardly. "Kyuubi's been getting restless, and when you mentioned Shukaku, it worried me. I'm sure Keitaro's feeling it too by now. Something's going to happen, and I fear it may be at the festival, with all of the innocents from our villages here. I don't want that to happen here, so I think it would be best to get Keitaro here immediately and plan something out. It's something big, else Kyuubi wouldn't care.."  
  
"Do you think it could be...?"  
  
"No, Keitaro has good control now, probably better than both of us. I doubt it. I think it has something to do with that group of people..."  
  
"Akatsuki?"  
  
"Hai."  
  
---  
  
I'm cutting it off from here. I think the whole Gaara calling Naruto 'Naruto-kun' bit is a little weird myself, but I imagine he would if they were close friends, and I imagine they are now. Other characters will make appearances in the next chapter, this was just to set the general storyline.  
  
I'll go work on the next bit, but I'm not posting it as soon as I finish. I wanna time it a bit, so I can perfect it. Still without a beta reader. If you're interested, drop me a line, contact info's on the profile page. Uh.. other than that, ja ne. 


	3. In Preparation

Later that night, after Naruto had seen to it that the Kazekage and his entire escort had been given a place to stay, he himself lay in his room, staring up at the ceiling. He was, of course, in nothing but his boxer shirts. Even if he was Hokage, he wouldn't sleep dressed in a special uniform.  
  
Anyway, Naruto lay deep in thought, trying to wonder what was getting the nine-tailed fox so riled up. So far he had only told Gaara, but he thought he may need to call Sasuke or Shikamaru back to discuss it with them.. no, no, that wouldn't do. They were both doing very important missions.. Sakura, yes, Sakura could help. She was a teacher at the academy, a Chuunin. She wasn't actually a teacher.. she was more like Iruka's helper, but she was a big help to Iruka. He'd talk to her first, then he'd go and track down Jiraiya and ask for his counsel. Tsunade too, but after Ero-Sennin and Sakura.  
  
As he decided on that, he let his eyes close and he began nodding off to sleep. It was a few moments afterwards that he came to him; Kyuubi. It had happened before, when Naruto was almost unconscious. Kyuubi sometimes spoke to him, and he was doing it again. This time however, Naruto was drawn to him, in that deep, dark dungeon in the back of his head.  
  
"Brat," came the kitsune's growl.  
  
"Bastard fox," came the young Hokage's response.  
  
"You already know something's about to go on.. but do you know what?"  
  
"Hell no, that's why I've been so troubled all day!"  
  
A deep chuckle came from behind the bars; the deep red eyes of Kyuubi began glowing.  
  
"Hehehe.. Ahh, Hokage now, just like Obito. I remember that night that I was cast inside of this hell. We don't get the chance to talk much anymore.. I think the last time we spoke like this was after the incident in the second Chuunin exams."  
  
"URUSEI! Tell me what you know right now!"  
  
"Ahhh.. Well, I'll tell you later. I hate to spoil surprises. I can tell you that Shukaku's getting very anxious. He sensed it before I did. The demon from Kaminari's on his way too.. Ahh, poor kid, we beat him good. He'll be able to tell you more than I can. But, you're right. It's got to do with that group."  
  
"Wait! How did you kn-" Naruto was cut off as Kyuubi pushed him out of his subconscious state and sent him sitting upright in his bed. Sweat rolled down his forehead; he was breathing hard. Keitaro knew something.. something besides Kyuubi told him something ominous was about to happen.  
  
He closed his eyes, as he began remembering his first real encounter with Keitaro...  
  
Cue flashback..  
  
Naruto's hands clasped together before him; he used them as a focus point for calling up Kyuubi's chakra. He felt its warm power spread throughout his body, enabling him to operate at levels not even Neji could match now. He should be able to keep up with Sasuke's extreme speed this way. He grinned to himself. There was no way Sasuke could beat him now!  
  
Sasuke, not one to be showed up, decided that he'd let it slide once and activate the curse seal. Just as the purple chakra began spiraling around him and the curse marks were spreading across his body, a bloody heap fell between the two. On it was the mask of an Anbu; one that happened to be fashioned after a fox.  
  
Naruto and Sasuke both dispelled the chakra they were calling on, as another form landed next to the fallen Anbu. He grinned, and even from afar you could make out his pupils, which were spasming between green and blue. He held his glaive out, which now had three spikes as opposed to one, then swept it out towards the Anbu's body. The long braid he kept his hair in swept up into the air, flowing with the arc of the young man's swing of the body before it crushed into a wall and left a huge blood streak.  
  
Sasuke recognized who it was immediately; he'd beaten him in the preliminary matches for the third round. Keitaro of Kaminari. He'd been hard, but this was breaking rules.. he shouldn't be here.  
  
"Kyuubi... I'm here for my fight."  
  
End flashback..  
  
Naruto winced, remembering the battle all too well.. He didn't want to delve into his memory any further, so he closed his eyes and forced himself to nod off to sleep.  
  
---  
  
Naruto sighed as he slipped from the window of his office and hopped onto a roof. He should've known that Ero-Sennin wouldn't come to his office after a messenger told him to. He'd have to hunt him down himself.  
  
With this in mind, Naruto knew exactly where to go: the onsen. The hotsprings had actually been remodeled within the past two years, and were constantly being expanded upon. This, of course, had NOTHING to do with Jiraiya's influence on Naruto . . .  
  
On Rokudaime's trip to the onsen, the blond mentally went over Sakura's advice from just an hour ago. She had advised Naruto to let things play out, but to also be prepared - this meant all of the powerful Jounin were to be called back immediately to stay on the safe side of things. This especially meant Sasuke, because he'd want to be here if ANYTHING Akatsuki related were going on in Konoha.  
  
The youma-boy blinked, noticing Jiraiya just before it was too late. If he'd gone a little further, he would have noticed him and probably run off. Yep... There he was, peeping through the bushes like always.  
  
"Ooi, Ero-Sennnniiiiiin..." Naruto called out quietly, as he appeared behind the old man, grabbing him from underneath the shoulders. He locked his arms then, and held Jiraiya in place. "I called you to my office half an hour ago, and the scout reported back... You're coming NOW."  
  
"GACKKK!!" Jiraiya gasped out, then quickly covered his mouth. He had been too loud. If they didn't get out of there now...  
  
Naruto, fully aware of the danger by now, was already dragging Gama- Sennin behind a wall, as a huge storm of angry women rushed the spot they had been in just moments ago. Their screams ended a few minutes later, when they finally calmed down and went back into the bath after finding no peeping tom.  
  
About twenty minutes later, after literally dragging the old man into his office, Jiraiya stood before Naruto, immersed in deep thought.  
  
"Aa.. So, you're telling me that Shukaku told Gaara something big was afoot, and Kyuubi told you last night that it had to with Akatsuki. Those nine shinobi.. hmm, I wonder what they're planning."  
  
"Jiraiya-sama," said Naruto, dropping his favorite nickname for the old man and all of his childhood naivity with it, "We need you to use all of your resources and tell us what you can before the week's up and the festival begins. If they plan on hitting us, it'll be during the festival, and I won't let them harm my people. I know this is going be mean of me, but I want you to go as soon as possible and do some REAL data gathering. This is very important.. please."  
  
Jiraiya grimaced. He didn't want to have to do something so tedious, but he didn't have any other choice. He didn't particularly like the idea of tracking the Akatsuki down either, but he'd do what he could. "I'll do it, kid. But when this is over or if this turns out to be a false alarm, you're going to owe me big. Especially if this is just a waste of my time."  
  
"Iya, it won't be a waste of time... I can assure you. You'll leave in two hours, I've already got arrangements made for a team of four Anbu to join you. I hope they can keep up... You can leave now to make any and all preparations necessary." Naruto really sighed. These formalities just weren't his style...  
  
"Hai, Rokudaime-sama." Jiraiya grinned to himself. Naruto looked just like Obito had. Even if his former pupil was now officially his superior, Gama-Sennin couldn't help but feel pride in the strength of their nation.  
  
"Maa.. Jiraiya-sensei, thank you."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
---  
  
Naruto knew that any day now the other leaders would be here. Tsuchikage-dono and Mizukage-dono would probably show, but he hoped with all his heart that Raikage-dono would appear first so that he, Naruto and Gaara could discuss things privately without causing suspicion. Of course, the other leaders would be told about the danger, but the three youma- possessed leaders needed to speak first in his mind.  
  
So caught up in thoughts such as this that Naruto didn't notice his former silver-haired teacher walk into his office. Raising a hand to his masked mouth, the former Anbu coughed twice. "Ooi, Naruto-kun."  
  
Snapped out of his deep thoughts, Naruto looked up to see Kakashi- sensei, who still looked the same, surprisingly. "Ooi, Kakashi-sensei! You know why I called you, hai?"  
  
"Hai. I'm going to take Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee with me. Neji's Anbu squad will temporarily need a new captain, and Lee's team 8 will need a new Jounin."  
  
"Hmm.. tell Gai-sensei to take over for Lee, and withdraw Inuzuka Kiba's Anbu team from the border. We'll temporarily combine Neji's forces with Kiba's. I'm sure he can handle it. I'll have missions for both teams ready tomorrow."  
  
"Hai hai, Rokudaime-sama." Just as Kakashi was about to leave, however, he turned around and looked questioningly to Naruto. "Yoo.. Naruto- kun, how'd the meeting with Kazekage go?"  
  
"It was as I expected. If you hear word of anyone coming to the village, particularly Raikage-dono or another leader, send word back immediately. Also, if you hear about Akatsuki, forward all news to Jiraiya- sama. He'll be able to find you if send word to me."  
  
"Hai." Kakashi turned around to leave again, but Naruto caught him with a final comment.  
  
"Kakashi-sensei.. bring Sasuke back without telling him about the current situation. I'll tell him myself when he returns."  
  
---  
  
Oiii.. I'm not entirely pleased with this at all, but I actually put out another chapter. I wasn't planning on it. I wonder if I'll finish this story...  
  
If you have any ideas, you can leave them in a review, or you can drop me a line with contact info from my profile page.  
  
Also, as a side note, I'm the information writer over at www.narutonation.com so when that site gets up, that'll all be my work. For the Rpers out there, we may be hosting our own RP so you can check that out. I'll also probably be the maintainer of that.  
  
God bless free advertising.  
  
Reviews help, especially with critiques, and I'll take flames too since I flame from time to time. But really, any ideas, send 'em my way, because I'm sorta bullshitting this with a basic idea in mind. 


End file.
